Chapter 5 - Rest Within
Day 35
The happiness of samadhi radiates waves of joy to the world. It can be interpreted in many ways and seen from different points of view. Those who are realised and those who aim for realisation might have
their own view.
From the point of view of the siddha, once you enjoy samadhi, the whole world is filled with happiness. When you are happy in samadhi, the happiness is not restricted to you, but spreads all around you.
Something is wrong if you think that you are in samadhi while the people around you are unhappy. That cannot be samadhi. The sign of samadhi is that all should be happy.
You cannot hide light if it is shining. Its rays travel in all directions. If it does not spread, it is not light. If there is no happiness in the place around you, you cannot be in samadhi at all.
Even if one person achieves samadhi, its effects radiate out to the world, creating happiness for people nearby. The effect when thousands of people enter samadhi can only be imagined.
When you pray, do not think that its impact is limited to you. Definitely, when you are peaceful, waves of
peace spread around you and impact your surroundings.
It has been said about Mahavir that anywhere within 20 miles of him, birds and animals would drop all violence. The waves radiating from him travelled far and wide.
Is it possible that the happiness that overflows from you would not spread to all? If you have a cold, people who come near you might also catch cold.
It is the same for coughs. If you stand near someone who is angry, you will become angry just like him for no apparent reason.
Even if you are relaxed, you feel angry standing next to someone who is angry. If anger has that impact, why would happiness not have the same power?
It is an impact of this type not there in samadhi or love? I tell you that their power is much. When you are in samadhi, absorbed in meditation or in silence, rays of happiness radiate from you.
When you see anger or rage on the face of a sadhak, who is trying to enter samadhi, it makes you ask what kind of samadhi it is that they are so unhappy. If there is fragrance, does it not spread?
From another point of view, you can say that everyone desires to be happy, and all the work they do is only to find happiness. Knowingly or unknowingly, people are searching only for happiness, which can only be found in samadhi.
If you have experienced extreme happiness at any time, know that you were in samadhi at that moment. Do you know what happiness is? Where are you looking for happiness?
Where is happiness to be found? What types of happiness are available to you in the world? Observe this. You may really like a sweet that is made on a special occasion once a year.
However, if you had to eat the same sweet morning, afternoon and evening, you would go out looking for spicy food instead. Looking at the sweet all the time would make you nauseous.
Imagine that you went to a restaurant for a masala dosa or vada. If you invited the cook to join you, he would say, "No thank you," because he is so tired of smelling oil all day. He prefers rice and rasam.
Since morning, he would have prepared hundreds of dosas and by noon has lost his appetite for them. Any happiness you experience in the world comes with a tail called misery.
Any type of happiness you experience in the world has its opposite. What is the use of water to someone who is not thirsty? However, one gulp of water will bring immense happiness to a person wandering under the hot sun with a dry throat.
A person walking in the hot sun, when he finds a tree and rests under its shadow, will exclaim, "Oh, what shade". The shade has a use when there is sunshine. If because of the clouds there is no sunshine, what will you do sitting in the shade under a tree?
In such a situation, shade is everywhere. Without sunshine, you cannot enjoy the shade. Similarly, to enjoy a meal one should be hungry. Likewise, with sleep, someone who is tired after a day of hard work will sleep well even if there are mosquitoes.
Even rat bites will not disturb his sleep. But if you waste time during the day, then you will not be able to sleep at night even if you have a soft, comfortable bed.
You toss and turn, and one mosquito's buzz will keep you awake. The mosquito is not
responsible for your sleepless night. Your laziness will not let you sleep.
If you lie in bed since morning,
how can you sleep at night? People who oversleep cannot enjoy sleep, but those who work hard and tire themselves out in the fields find satisfaction when they go to bed.
In villages during festivals, especially during the Ganesha festival, loudspeakers continually blast music. People do not bother whether they play film songs or music - it may be a film song, Harikirtan, anything from Satya Harishchandra or Bhakta Markandeya.
Some people do not see any distinction between them. Tired, the villagers sleep soundly despite the noise. Nothing disturbs them. The loud speaker goes on blaring.
One person has been paid some fee, maybe 50-60 rupees, to keep changing the records on the gramophone. This happens even near our ashram.
Those who come from cities do not get proper sleep, but the people who stay nearby sleep well. Once we had to send someone to stop the music man, saying "All your people are asleep now, so you can stop the music."
He may need an extra 10-15 rupees to stop. You have to work hard to enjoy sleep. In this world, we can only enjoy opposite values in turn, but the happiness of samadhi is far greater.
